The Chase
by Ladymurph829
Summary: A prequel to My Favorite Holiday. Rated M for Language


Chapter 1 Sookie?

Her angry words rang in my ears. "Don't you have a girl waiting for you somewhere?" I winced again at the remembrance of her harsh tone. The woman had really raked me over the coals with that one sentence. I deserved her scorn and anger.

Sookie had been my best friend for a lot of years. I wondered at what point I stopped seeing her as a woman: I always thought of her as one of the guys. It never occurred to me that she may have liked me. I had been a shallow bastard, and to some degree I still was. But damn, I'd never seen Sookie look so lovely. I decided enough was enough_. Time to man up Northman and take one on the chin_. I paid for my books and left the store to stalk the halls for Sookie.

After an hour of searching, I was ready to throw in the towel. I headed towards the library to clear my head. Normally I wouldn't be caught dead in here, but a certain curvaceous blonde was occupying my thoughts. I strolled through the library, keeping my head down in case someone recognized me. The last thing I needed was a parade of women following me around when I was trying to figure out only one.

I slid into a study cubical and rested my head on my arms. In the last year or so since I had seen Sookie, she had changed a lot. I always thought she was pretty but now, she was beautiful. She had ditched her glasses an lost quite a bit of weight, but her charming personality had remained. I groaned and stretched my arms over

my head. Suddenly someone crashed into my arms while I was stretching.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," a voice I knew well sounded. I turned around to look

at her, but she was bent down picking up her things. As I went to help her, I froze when my eyes fell on her shirt, whose neckline was gaping open to reveal the swells of her perfect breasts. I shook myself and bent down to help her, but she had already gotten everything. It was too late for me to react. I head butted her hard on top of her head. She collapsed in a heap at my feet. I quickly rose and picked her up, settling her in my arms until she came to. I cursed my harder than average head. She moaned in pain and I tightened my arms around her. How long had it been since I'd held her last? I didn't remember, but now I was concentrating on her welfare at present.

"Ow," she said softly. She cracked one eye and then of them flew wide open. "Eric! Put me down!" she hissed at me. I shrugged and set her on her feet. She wobbled and I grasped her around her waist and set her on my lap again.

"You're in no condition to stand yet" I whispered in her ear. "I will take you to the nurse if you'd like me to." She looked at me with surprise etched on her face.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked softly. I felt like shit as I watched a tear slide down her cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb. She lifted her teary gaze to my face, searching for an answer.

I smiled ruefully, and stood up setting her on her feet, sliding my arm around her shoulders to steady her. "I'm doing this because I nearly knocked you out and I could have really hurt you because of that."

"I should have known it was you. You are the only person I know who has an abnormally hard head." She offered me a wan smile. "You still haven't said I'm sorry I almost concussed you Sookie."

"I'm not sure that I am sorry." I looked down at her. I nudged her to get her moving, but she didn't budge. She raised an eye brow obviously wanting an explanation. I heaved a sigh. "I am not sorry because, if I hadn't head butted you, you would have steered clear of me. And, may I remind you Miss Stackhouse, you ran into me first. Fair's fair."

"But I apologized to you," she sputtered, blushing a delicious shade of pink. I chuckled at her and pulled her closer to my side as we began to walk towards the door. I leaned down to nuzzle the wispy blond hairs behind her ear. I was surprised to feel her shiver.

"I am sorry Sookie," I breathed into her ear. She looked up at me with a puzzled expression on her face as if she was trying to figure me out. Damn me if I wanted her to.


End file.
